i think a failure was announcing to the taliban the day you were going to withdraw. while they might not have watches, they do have calendars. it makes it difficult to negotiate with someone or to drive them away if they know that only have to hide for a certain time and then can come back because you are gone. i think that was a mistake. i think it was a mistake not to oversee the elections, the government elections, to make sure they were held in a way that had public confidence in a government that was not corrupt. i think there are some lessons learned. we have been there 10 years. it is time for the afghan people to take responsibility for preserving the independence which has been fought for so valiantly by our soldiers. our men and women have made extraordinary sacrifices there, and other places in the history of this great nation. we want to see the afghans pick up the responsibility for the effort that goes forward. the determination of when to pull our troops out should come with the input of the generals and the leaders on the ground. i think the president